SC pulls plug on mining in two K'taka districts

The Supreme Court on Friday suspended iron ore mining in the Tumkur and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka. It asked for suggestions from the Attorney General and others to submit a formula to release 25 million tonnes of iron ore available for immediate use by the steel industry.

The “forest bench” headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia has asked Attorney General G E Vahanvati and senior counsel Shyam Divan to study the inputs provided by the mining lessees and prepare a plan for the release of iron ore and the modalities related to transactions such as sale and transportation. The association of iron and steel industries had expressed its concern over the shortage of iron ore following the closure of mines in Bellary recently. Following a report of the centrally empowered committee of the court, the restrictions have been extended to two more districts.

The court further directed a joint team to carry out a survey and demarcate the boundaries of the leases, as was ordered in the case of Bellary district earlier. The empowered committee will name the agency in charge of keeping the accounts of sales and royalty payable at the rate of 10 per cent of the market price.

Counsel for the industries, K K Venugopal, said the units would have to be provided raw materials 24/7 and if the furnaces were allowed to cool down, it would take a long time to take them to full capacity. The industry requires nearly two million tonnes a month. If the required quantity of ore is not available, many units would close down within four or five days. Some 18,000 workers would have to be laid off due to ore shortage alone, he said. The court passed the order after hearing the plea of steel industries and several lessees. The lessees said they were not violating the mining and environmental laws. They said they had been given licences after they complied with all the rules.

However, the Chief Justice said the fundamental right to life, which includes a clean environment, was above the right to trade in the Constitution. He stressed that economic development should be balanced by environmental considerations. He asked the industries to work out a rehabilitation plan and a scientific method to excavate the mines.

Friday’s order followed the August 19 report of the empowered committee, which stated reckless mining in an unsustainable manner for short-term gains had affected the region’s ecology.